Health Care Cost

A new study estimated Medicare drug price negotiation savings; food benefits provided under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will return to prepandemic amounts; pharmacies reduce hours to cope with staffing shortages, improve work-life balance.

Multiple adalimumab biosimilars will hit the US market in 2023, but the drug is still projected to have the largest price increase for the calendar year starting July 1.

A real-world study of health care resource utilization (HCRU) in patients with myasthenia gravis on second-line therapy identified the factors that led to increased financial burdens.

Adults with diabetes who were forced to switch from an employer-sponsored health plan to a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) were 25% more likely to require an emergency department (ED) or hospital visit for hyperglycemia, but not for hypoglycemia, than those who did not switch plans.

Certain variables have been shown to have both positive and negative influences on the willingness to pay for sleep disturbance treatment, such as wealth, insurance coverage, quality of life, and age.

Amazon’s announcement of a prescription subscription service that charges a flat monthly fee instead of offering discounts on each prescription fill represents the retail giant’s latest foray into the health care space.

Eli Lilly will tack on $450 million more to increase capacity in a diabetes drug plant in light of shortages; patients emailing and messaging medical providers online might be charged; 57% of adults in a recent survey think that the federal government should secure health care coverage for all Americans.

As the country hits the debt limit spending on Medicare and Medicaid may be at risk; the Agriculture Department targets fraudulent claims in products labeled as organic; first cases of drug-resistant gonorrhea strain found.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are more likely to die in the year after undergoing surgery and rack up higher health care costs post-operation, study finds.

No difference in treatment efficacy was observed between intranasal mometasone furoate and saline for the management of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) symptoms in children, with findings indicating that almost one-half of children with SDB could be initially managed in the primary care setting.

Two ranibizumab biosimilars launched in the United States in 2022, but a new report shows comfort and familiarity with biosimilars has gone down compared with a year ago.

Greater availability of naloxone spray, including over the counter, may reduce opioid overdoses; vaccination rates drop once again for US children; some experts question the necessity of the updated COVID-19 booster shot.

Expanded health coverage sees an increase in enrollments; Antiabortion activists protest against CVS and Walgreens; $26,500 Alzheimer’s drug limits affordability

The 10 drugs selected for Medicare Part D price negotiation with HHS will be announced on September 1, 2023, HHS said Wednesday.

President Joe Biden expected to renew COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) one more time; Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer are denied by the Supreme Court; funding for the 988 mental health helpline expands inclusivity efforts.

The FDA’s approval of lecanemab for Alzheimer disease is very important, but there will remain significant challenges around pricing and access that will need to be addressed to deliver on the promise the therapy actually represents, said Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School.

We want to make it easy for our patients to manage and navigate the financial toxicity they encounter from their cancer care, noted Mike Koroscik, MBA, MHA, vice president of oncology, Allina Health and the Allina Health Cancer Institute.

Dual-regimen abortion pills authorized for pharmacy sale by FDA; health professionals turn a critical eye to US concerns about COVID-19 in China while domestic cases rise here as vaccination rates drop; drug manufacturers are collectively raising prices early this month on medications from autoimmune treatments to shingles vaccines to cancer treatments.

The Chinese government warns of backlash for countries requiring COVID-19 testing of travelers from China; monoclonal antibody drugs show some promise against infectious diseases, but costs need to be lower; the role of FDA and Biogen in approving Alzheimer drug Aduhelm is detailed in a scathing Congressional committee report.

The addition of adalimumab biosimilars to formularies can help accelerate realized savings as the blockbuster drug Humira faces competition from multiple biosimilars, including 1 approved interchangeable biosimilar.

Incidence of Parkinson disease in North America was 50% higher than previous estimates of 60,000 diagnoses annually.

The top biosimilars content of 2022 reviewed perceptions around switching to a trastuzumab biosimilar, drug costs, and the successful implementation of biosimilars in practice.

Most older US adults have concerns about emergency department visit affordability. Lower income, being uninsured, poor or fair physical/mental health, and younger age were associated with increased concerns.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were clear in the US national health care expenditure analysis of spending last year, as federal spending dropped, but health care use rebounded in 2021.

The novel coalition was announced at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Forum, which took place December 4-7 in Orlando, Florida.

A session at the 2022 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition reviewed some trends in the 340B drug pricing programs and Medicaid.

Costs are an adverse effect of treatment just like any other adverse effect, with slightly more patients worried about the financial impact of their cancer diagnosis than they are about actually dying from their disease, noted Fumiko Chino, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center.

Once patients with HIV start treatment, pharmacists can play a key role in addressing patient accessibility and affordability of HIV treatments and promoting adherence, said Dena Behm Dillon, PharmD, AAHIVP, HIV clinical pharmacy specialist, University of Iowa Health Care.

Due to anticompetitive practices, the United States lags Germany and Switzerland in the number of biosimilars on the market, while also having substantially higher prices for both biosimilars and reference products.